Maeve Binchy, 72, one of Ireland's most popular writers, with more than 40 million books sold worldwide, died Monday in Dublin after a brief illness, Irish media and national leaders said.
She was best known for her depictions of human relationships and their crises in such books as Circle of Friends and Tara Road.
The Irish Times told the Associated Press that it had spoken to her family and said the author died at a Dublin hospital Monday with her husband, Gordon Snell, by her side.
In recent years she continued to write despite being slowed by arthritis and a heart ailment.
Ms. Binchy wrote 16 novels, four collections of short stories, a play, and a novella. Her work landed her on the New York Times' bestseller list and in Oprah's Book Club.
"I do realize that I am a popular writer who people buy to take on vacation," she said in an interview with the BookReporter website.
"I was just lucky I lived in this time of mass-market paperbacks."
Her latest novel, A Week in Winter, is to be published later this year. - AP
